What are SQL Server Analysis Services cubes?

Answer 1

In analysis services, cube is the basic unit of storage. A cube has data collected from various sources that enables faster execution of queries. Cubes have dimensions and measures.

Example: A cube storing employee details may have dimensions like date of joining and name which helps in faster queries requesting for finding employees who joined in a particular week.

Answer 2

SQL SAS cube is a data structure for fast analysis of data. Using cubes to arrange data is a solution to overcome the limitations in relational databases. RDBMSs are not suited well for display of large amounts of data and instantaneous analysis. Cubes can be thought as an extension for spreadsheet. A company’s financial data by product, time-period, city etc., are additional dimensions for business data. SQL SAS cubes are used to represent this type of data.